St. Augustine graduate is killed in Afghanistan

First Lt. Salvatore S. Corma, of Deptford, a 2004 graduate of St. Augustine Preparatory School, Richland, died last Thursday, April 29, from injuries sustained during an insurgent attack on his Army unit in Afghanistan.

Corma, 24, was killed by an improvised explosive device. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, in Fort Bragg, N.C. He was a 2008 graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.

At St. Augustine, he was captain of the winter track team, and a member of the National Honor Society.

“Sal was a very positive young man. He always had a smile, always upbeat,” said Augustinian Father Paul W. Galetto, president of St. Augustine. “He was a competitor; it was this competitive nature that led him to West Point.

“Sal was living his dream…serving the nation. (St. Augustine Prep) is saddened at the loss.”

Corma is the beloved son of Gertrude H. “Trudy” (Keeney) and Salvatore S. “Big Sal”; grandson of Gertrude H. and the late Frank J. Keeney and the late Sadie and James Corma; step-brother of Rose Burns (Paul), Todd Burns (Kristie), Zachary Burns and Donna Palladino; nephew to numerous aunts and uncles; and cousin and friend to many.

Visitation will be Tuesday, May 11 from 1-3 p.m., and 6-8 p.m. in the McGuinness Funeral Home, 573 Egg Harbor Rd., Washington Township (Sewell), and Wednesday, May 12, 9- 10:30 a.m. in the Infant Jesus Parish at St. Margaret’s Church, Third Avenue and Beech Street, Woodbury Heights. A funeral Mass will be on Wednesday, 11 a.m. in the church.

There will be Full Military Honors and Committal Blessing at Gloucester County Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Williamstown.